Signal Ensemble Theatre has announced its 2013-14 season, including the United States premiere of a new play by the well-regarded Canadian writer Hannah Moscovitch. Signal's slate, the company's eleventh, begins in August with Moscovitch's "This is War," a piece about Canadian forces in Afghanistan. It continues in January with "Plainsong," the Eric Schmiedl adaptation of the novel by Kent Haruf (first seen at the Denver Center Theatre Company), and ends with a new John Steinhagen musical,...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has sent a military plane to help U.S. authorities in the hunt for four British yachtsmen missing in the Atlantic Ocean, the Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday. The sailors on board the yacht Cheeki Rafiki went missing on Friday as they were returning to Britain from a sailing event in Antigua in the Caribbean. They reported that the vessel was taking on water, forcing them to change course to head to the Azores. Britain said a...

Dec 31 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. THE GLOBE AND MAIL * Defense Minister Peter MacKay has opened the door to sending Canadian Forces personnel into the troubled west African nation of Mali, citing the contribution of Canadian military trainers in Afghanistan. () * Dazed passengers were being cared for in a convention center in Pendleton, Oregon,...

OTTAWA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Canada, which has a history of recent military procurement mishaps, will scrap a C$2 billion ($1.9 billion) plan to buy armored vehicles for the land forces, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp said on Thursday. The Conservative government announced in 2009 it would buy 108 so-called close combat vehicles designed to have enough protection to fend off the blast from mines and anti-armor weapons. At the time Canadian forces...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has sent a military plane to help U.S. authorities in the hunt for four British yachtsmen missing in the Atlantic Ocean, the Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday. The sailors on board the yacht Cheeki Rafiki went missing on Friday as they were returning to Britain from a sailing event in Antigua in the Caribbean. They reported that the vessel was taking on water, forcing them to change course to head to the Azores. Britain said a...

By Peter N Henderson June 21 (Reuters) - A bell seized as a trophy of war during a bloody fight for self-determination in the Canadian West will return to the small Saskatchewan town where an 1885 aboriginal uprising was crushed, an aboriginal leader said on Friday. The 20-pound (9-kg) silver-plated Bell of Batoche has been kept in a secret location since 1991 when it was taken from the legion hall of some of the soldiers who put down the rebellion. ...

OTTAWA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Canada, which has a history of recent military procurement mishaps, will scrap a C$2 billion ($1.9 billion) plan to buy armored vehicles for the land forces, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp said on Thursday. The Conservative government announced in 2009 it would buy 108 so-called close combat vehicles designed to have enough protection to fend off the blast from mines and anti-armor weapons. At the time Canadian forces...

Signal Ensemble Theatre has announced its 2013-14 season, including the United States premiere of a new play by the well-regarded Canadian writer Hannah Moscovitch. Signal's slate, the company's eleventh, begins in August with Moscovitch's "This is War," a piece about Canadian forces in Afghanistan. It continues in January with "Plainsong," the Eric Schmiedl adaptation of the novel by Kent Haruf (first seen at the Denver Center Theatre Company), and ends with a new John Steinhagen musical,...

Shocking new allegations of harassment and rape of female soldiers have rekindled fears that Canada's military protects sexual predators and ignores their victims. The Canadian Forces fell into disrepute in the 1990s with female recruits' disturbing accounts of beatings, mock executions and an array of psychological abuses by their male colleagues. The ensuing scandals, however, were mild compared to the uproar last summer after a prominent national news...

Dec 31 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. THE GLOBE AND MAIL * Defense Minister Peter MacKay has opened the door to sending Canadian Forces personnel into the troubled west African nation of Mali, citing the contribution of Canadian military trainers in Afghanistan. () * Dazed passengers were being cared for in a convention center in Pendleton, Oregon,...

By Peter N Henderson June 21 (Reuters) - A bell seized as a trophy of war during a bloody fight for self-determination in the Canadian West will return to the small Saskatchewan town where an 1885 aboriginal uprising was crushed, an aboriginal leader said on Friday. The 20-pound (9-kg) silver-plated Bell of Batoche has been kept in a secret location since 1991 when it was taken from the legion hall of some of the soldiers who put down the rebellion. ...

Attorneys for two Illinois Air National Guardsmen who face a possible court-martial for their roles in a friendly fire incident during the war in Afghanistan said Tuesday that Canadian forces on the ground did not take adequate steps that could have prevented the bombing that killed four and wounded eight Canadian soldiers. In the opening day of the military hearing to determine whether Maj. William Umbach and Maj. Harry Schmidt should be court-martialed for their roles in the bombing...

At Christmastime, Canada is special because many children around the world see it as the country Santa Claus calls home. He even has an official Canadian postal code at the North Pole: H0H 0H0. Mail carriers start picking up children's letters to Santa by the thousands at the famed Santa Claus parade in Toronto. They answer every letter-more than 735,000 last year across the country-in English, French and eight other languages. "We Canadians just assume Santa Claus comes down from northern Canada,"...

Shocking new allegations of harassment and rape of female soldiers have rekindled fears that Canada's military protects sexual predators and ignores their victims. The Canadian Forces fell into disrepute in the 1990s with female recruits' disturbing accounts of beatings, mock executions and an array of psychological abuses by their male colleagues. The ensuing scandals, however, were mild compared to the uproar last summer after a prominent national news...

Every Christmas Eve, Canada's air defense radar scopes light up with a mysterious blip lifting off from the North Pole and streaking south above the Arctic snows. More rapid than eagles, two Canadian Forces jet fighters are scrambled to intercept the subsonic aircraft speeding at low altitude through Canadian air space. Once pilots pull alongside to make sure it's a "friendly," they fly escort and radio back updates on the visitor's flight path before handing it over to American...

Every Christmas Eve, Canada's air defense radar scopes light up with a mysterious blip lifting off from the North Pole and streaking south above the Arctic snows. More rapid than eagles, two Canadian Forces jet fighters are scrambled to intercept the subsonic aircraft speeding at low altitude through Canadian air space. Once pilots pull alongside to make sure it's a "friendly," they fly escort and radio back updates on the visitor's flight path before handing it over to American...

The allied air base in this isolated Labrador town, a key staging area for Europe-bound GIs from World War II to the Cold War, is about to lose its American detachment to the fortunes of peace. The tiny U.S. Military Airlift Command unit based here is the only one in Canada and the last in a 50-year succession of American contingents. But it's going out with a bang despite the swan song of superpower strife. Before pulling out next summer, the U.S. Air Force staff...

Thoroughbred racing will hold its eighth annual sumit conference Saturday afternoon when the Breeders` Cup races are run at Churchill Downs. Canada may emerge as a world power. - Dance Smartly is going into the $1 million Distaff undefeated in seven starts this year and has a shot at becoming Horse of the Year. The Canadian Triple Crown winner and her accomplished entrymate, Wildnerness Song, are pegged as the even-money morning-line favorite. - Sky Classic has won six straight after...

Thoroughbred racing will hold its eighth annual sumit conference Saturday afternoon when the Breeders` Cup races are run at Churchill Downs. Canada may emerge as a world power. - Dance Smartly is going into the $1 million Distaff undefeated in seven starts this year and has a shot at becoming Horse of the Year. The Canadian Triple Crown winner and her accomplished entrymate, Wildnerness Song, are pegged as the even-money morning-line favorite. - Sky Classic has won six straight after...

At Christmastime, Canada is special because many children around the world see it as the country Santa Claus calls home. He even has an official Canadian postal code at the North Pole: H0H 0H0. Mail carriers start picking up children's letters to Santa by the thousands at the famed Santa Claus parade in Toronto. They answer every letter-more than 735,000 last year across the country-in English, French and eight other languages. "We Canadians just assume Santa Claus comes down from northern Canada,"...